Our tennis writer previews the ATP World Tour’s German Tennis Championships.
The biggest event on the ATP World Tour takes place on the clay courts in Germany this week. Played at the tennis center Am Rothenbaum, the event has failed to deliver any of the top 20 players in the world rankings, despite its status as an ATP 500 event. It’s always a fairly surreal time of the year for the clay-court specialists, with the transition to the American hardcourts already very much in the consciousness of the average tennis fan. The US Open series actually gets under way in Atlanta this week.
ATP World Tour: German Tennis Champs | Sat 22 July – Sun 30 July | Am Rothenbaum
That being said, there are some intriguing opportunities in draws such as this, with players clamoring for vital ranking points heading into the hardcourt season. Albert Ramos-Vinolas leads the seedings in the top half of the draw while Pablo Cuevas is the man honcho in the bottom half. The seemingly indefatigable David Ferrer will be hard pressed to double up after victory last week, while the likes of Gilles Simon and Benoit Paire add a certain luster to proceedings.
Past Winners
2016: Martin Klizan
2015: Rafael Nadal
2014: Leonardo Mayer
2013: Fabio Fognini
2012: Juan Monaco
Looking at the top quarter of the draw, it appears that Ramos-Vinolas should come up against few obstacles in progressing to the business end of the week. Fellow Spaniard Fernando Verdasco is looking to recover form a disappointing Wimbledon and fairly underwhelming clay-court season in general and will always pose a threat, especially giving the lack of true quality that permeates this draw.
Predicted to progress for this quarter: Ramos-Vinolas
David Ferrer looks the obvious man to back in the second quarter of the draw, despite the physical exertion of laying back-to-back tournaments at his age. Despite his ostensibly diminutive stature and lack of a killer weapon in his arsenal, Ferrer has managed to carve out an extremely effective career usurping expectations. Perhaps a man to watch in that side of the draw is qualifier Federico Delbonis.
While he has mostly played on the Challenger Tour this season, he has reached three finals on clay since Roland Garros, winning one of them. He has decimated two players in qualification and could represent decent value for an upset over first round opponent Carlos Berlocq. I think he may be worth a shot at 4/10 to overcome Berlocq in their opening encounter.
Predicted to progress from this quarter: David Ferrer
The third quarter of the draw got underway yesterday, with expected victories for both Benoit Paire and the somewhat beleaguered Gilles Simon. This is a rather intriguing section of the draw, with home favorites Tommy Haas and Phillip Kohlschreiber in the mix. The vastly experienced Kohlschreiber has won seven ATP Titles in his career, five of which have been won in the country of his birth.
Former top 10 mainstay Tommy Haas has the distinction- fairly unbelievably- to have been one of only two people to have halted the progress of the Fed-express this season. Having said all that, I quite like the chances of Benoit Paire for the entire tournament. He made the semis at Stuttgart before reaching the final 16 at Wimbledon. While these courts will be much slower, he is a clay-court specialist who has cut his teeth on these surfaces. In fact, his only ATP Tour title came in Bastad two years ago. He has had an indifferent year but has beaten the likes of Stan Wawrinka and Pablo Carreno Busta this season on the clay.
Predicted to progress from this quarter: Benoit Paire
The final quarter doesn’t really appeal to me at all, with Pablo Cuevas produing a woeful display in Bastad last week. Similary, Diego Schwartzman also fell at that tournament in the quarter-final stage. Perhaps Florian Mayer could end up being the last German standing in a final quarter that just won’t deliver the champion here.
Predicted to progress from this quarter: Florian Mayer
Written by Damien Kayat for @Hollywoodbets.net
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